Toy gun

ABSTRACT

A toy gun capable of making a big firing sound with startling reality of snap break of paper tape etc., without using gun powder, cork ball, etc., due to compressed air produced in an air cylinder in cooperation with said tape, packing means and a piston associated with a trigger of said gun. Such a toy gun affords great enjoyment to infants and adults with quite safety and reality in gun operation.

United States Patent Suzuki et al.

[451 Sept. 23, 1975 TOY GUN [75] Inventors: Kanji Suzuki; Nagao Tada, both of Tokyo, Japan [73} Assignee: Daishin Kogyo K.K., Tokyo, Japan [22} Filed: Apr. 24, 1974 [2]] Appl. No.: 463,589

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 26, 1973 Japan 48-46762 July 24, 1973 Japan 48-82661 [52] U.S. Cl 46/195; 124/13 [51] Int. Cl. A63H 5/04 [58] Field of Search 46/194, 195; 124/1 1-14 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,135,067 6/1964 Goldfarbu, 46/195 R23,386 7/1951 Langos 46/195 Primary Examinerl-lugh R. Chamblee Assistant ExaminerRobert F. Cutting Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Staas & Halsey [57] ABSTRACT A toy gun capable of making a big firing sound with startling reality of snap break of paper tape etc., without using gun powder, cork ball, etc., due to compressed air produced in an air cylinder in cooperation with said tape, packing means and a piston associated with a trigger of said gun. Such a toy gun affords great enjoyment to infants and adults with quite safety and reality in gun operation.

4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures I401 35 i 1411/ E in 3p 2 a 7 3o 3 6 60 |z 50 524 ll l I I 1 1 1 r 1 I i l 1 t 1|V fi 28 I8 1 o X I 29 L \1 Y '1 1 l 4 I I 1 I 1 US Patent Se t-"23,1975 Sheet 1 of 5 3,906,662

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 I Sheet2of5 3,906,662

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US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 3 of5 3,906,662

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US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 5 of5 3,906,662

TOY GUN This invention relates to a toy gun and more particularly to a toy gun capable of producing a big firing sound by using paper tape etc. instead of using a firing cracker, a cap, a cork ball, etc.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a toy gun which is capable of making a big firing sound with startling reality by snap breaking of a paper tape etc. due to a pressure of air compressed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy gun as mentioned above which is easily enjoyable both for infants and adults only by using readily available paper such as news paper etc.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toy gun as mentioned above which is quite safe and completely free from any kind of danger possibly caused by use of gun powder or cork ball etc.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a toy gun as mentioned above which is enjoyable with reality in handling a true gun by fully copying a gun construction.

According to the present invention there is provided a toy gun consisting essentially of an air cylinder having an opening at its forward end wall; a first packing means having an opening formed in conformity to said opening of said air cylinder and fixed to said air cylinder at its tip end; a piston fitted in said air cylinder and provided with a piston rod connected thereto which is associated with a trigger and adapted to be locked in a retired position against the action of spring means for urging said piston forward and released from the locked position; a second packing means with an opening which is positioned ahead of said first packing means to pass therebetween a tape of thin film made of a material having an air transmission resistance of a degree sufficient for producing a compressed air of a pressure under which the thin film is broken; and means for relatively bringing the first and the second packing means into a position to press against each other, rendering said air cylinder sealed in cooperation with the tape held therebetween before the release of the piston rod.

The invention will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross sectional view of one form of the present toy gun;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view of an air cylinder and packing means as used in the present toy gun;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross. sectional view of another form of the present toy gun;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross sectional view of main part of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a similar vertical sectional view of FIG. 3 showing the gun in a standby position;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another form of packing means employable for the gun of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of upper part of a paper loading cassette employable for the gun of FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated one preferred embodiment of the present invention. Character a indicates a gun body formed of a gun-barrel, gun platform etc. (not shown) as of an orginary gun. The gun body a may be formed otherwise according to necessity. An air cylinder 1 has an opening la; at its forward end. wall la. A first packing means 4 madeof a rubber. etc. and having an opening 4a formed in conformity to said opening la is fixed to a trip end of said air cylinder-.1. Said air cylinder 1 is, as depicted in FIG. 1, fixed to a gun body a through support members 5 and 6. A piston 2 is fitted in said air cylinder 2 and provided with a-piston rod 3 connected thereto. To said piston rod 3 are fixed an engaging member 7 at its base end and a lever 3a at a position near its base end. Said lever 3a is provided so as to project outside of the gun body a. A spring holding member 8 is provided with a guide means 8a and fixed to said gun body a. A compression spring 9 is mounted between said spring holding member 8 and said engaging member 7. Said guide means 8a is inserted in the spring 9.

A pressing member 10 and a second packing means 11 are mounted ahead of said first packing means 4 fixed to the air cylinder 1 at its tip end and provided with openings 10a and 110, respectively, which are formed so as to conform to each other. Said openings 10a and 11a are preferably formed larger than the openings la and 4a to increase the air tightness of the cylinder 1 as mentioned in detail later. Said second packing means 11 is fixed to said pressing member 10 and kept in a facing and aligned relation with the first packing means 4. Two connecting rods 12 are secured at their forward ends to said pressing member 10, extended through slots 5a and 6a of the support members 5 and 6 and connected at their base ends to a connecting member 13. Said connecting rods 12 are adapted to slidingly reciprocate through the guide slots 5a and 6a by means of a mechanism as mentioned later to bring the second packing means 11 into a position to press against or disengage from said first packing means 4.

A trigger 14 and a locking member 15 are pivotally connected with a pin 16 which is secured to the gun body a in the transverse direction. Said locking member 15 are formed with a concaved portion 15a at its upper portion and a slant portion 15b and a hook portion at its tip end portion 151'. Said trigger 14 has a convexed portion 14a with a pin 14a at the upper forward portion of said trigger l4. Said pin 14a is adapted to abutt against the concaved portion 15a of the locking member 15 by pulling the trigger 14 to rotate said locking member 15 clockwise in FIG. 1. Against the action of a tension spring 18 which is provided between the base end portion of the locking member 15 and a pin 17 of the gun body a to urge said locking member 15 in the counterclockwise direction A rod 19 for setting the engaging member 7 in a retired standby position is connected at its base end to the trigger l4 and at its forward end to the connecting member 13. A tension spring. 32 is provided between said connecting member 13 and a projection 20 formed on the gun body a.

A sliding member 21 is pivotally connected, with a pin 24, at its base portion to another connecting member 23 fixed to the engaging member 7 and urged to rotate in the direction of arrow' by a coil spring 25 which is mounted around said pin 24. Said sliding member 21 is provided with a rack means 21a at its forward portion. A ratchet wheel 22 having a friction roller 220 connected thereto is rotatably carried by a pin 26 and adapted to mesh with said rack means 21a.

A guide means for feeding a paper tape or the like comprises a guide plate 27 pivotally carried by a pin 28 and provided with a knob 27a which is projected outside of the gun body a and a guide means 5b formed on the support member 5 in a facing relation with said guide plate 27. A coil spring 29 is mounted around said pin 28 to urge said guide plate 27 in the arrow direction. A thin film made of a material having an air transmission resistance of a degree sufficient for producing a compressed air of a pressure under which the thin film is broken is usable in the present gun for a cap, cracker, etc. to make a firing sound. Such a thin film may be made of orginary paper easily available, for example paper l-lAMAYU (trade name of wrapping paper manufactured and sold by KISHU SEISHI KABUSHIKI KAISHA in Japan). In this connection, it is noted that a thin film made of news paper or other material may of course be employed as far as it has a specific air transmission resistance as mentioned above.

In FIG. 1, numeral 30 designates a guide for the engaging member 7 and numeral 31 a guide for the sliding member 21, which are both formed on the gun body a. Numeral 33 designates a slot for accommodating the trigger 14 therein.

The thus constructed toy gun is operated as follows. The lever 3a connected to the piston rod 3 is pulled backwardly against the action of the compression spring 9 to retire the piston 3. In the course of the retiring of said piston 3, the engaging member 7 slides on the slanting portion 15b of the locking member 15, pivoting said locking member 15 in the arrow direction at 16 against the action of the spring 18. Said engaging member 7 is then locked by the hook portion 15c due to said action of the spring 18 and the piston is retained in a set position or a standby position for firing. On the other hand, the knob 27a of the guide plate 27 is moved rightwardly in FIG. 1 (in the direction opposite to the arrow) to form a gap between said guide plate 27 and the friction roller 22a. The tape is then supplied into the gap through a groove 34, led by said guide plate 27 and guide means 5b, passed between the first packing means 4 and the second packing means 11 and let outside through a groove 35.

When the trigger 14 is pulled in this state against the action of the spring 32, the second packing means 11 is moved in the arrow direction through the rod 19, connecting member 13, connecting rod 12 and a pressing member to tightly press the tape against the first packing means 4. Then, when the trigger 14 is further pulled, the hook portion 150 of the locking member 15 releases the engaging member 7 from the locked position and the piston 2 is sprung forwardly by the action of the spring 9. According to the advancement of said piston 2, air in the air cylinder 1 becomes compressed in cooperation with the tape which is hermetically pressed against the first packing means 4 by the second packing means 11, sealing the openings 1a and 4a, until the pressure of the compressed air at the openings la and 4a overwhelms the strength of the tape. At this instant, said tape is finally broken by the pressure of said compressed air jetting through the openings 11a and 10a. The loudness and the tone of the sound to be produced when the tape is broken vary depending upon the material of the tape.

When the piston rod 3 is retired as mentioned above, the sliding member 21 is pulled backwardly and the friction roller 22a is rotated in the arrow direction by the rack means 210 through the ratchet wheel 22 in mesh therewith. The rotation of said friction roller 22a feeds the tape upwardly by a certain length automatically. Illustratively stated, the rack means 21a is adapted to be disengaged from the ratchet wheel 22 after feeding the tape by a required length. thus preventing the tape from being fed unnecessarily long. As said piston rod 3 advances to return to its original position, the rack means 210 accordingly returns to its original position as shown in FIG. 1 while keeping th ratchet wheel in an unoperative state. i

The tape may be preliminarily loaded within the gun body in a rolled state to be fed automatically and continuously.

FIGS. 3 through 7 show another preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein character a designates a gun body and character b a portion of said fun body a housing various mechanisms of the gun. Means 1 12 for setting a piston rod in a retired standby position is fitted in a guide groove 145 formed on the mechanism housing b inside thereof. Said means 112 has a base end 1 12a bent at a right angle thereto and formed with an opening 112a and has a forward end provided with a bent projection 112b. A lever 103a is pivotally connected to said means 112 with a pin 103C to be pulled up or folded down and formed to project outside of the gun body a.

An air cylinder 101 is provided with protuberances 101b at its laterally diametric positions. One of said protuberances 101b is slidably fitted in a guide 146 formed on the mechanism housing b and the other is slidably fitted in a guide 1126 formed on the means 112. The air cylinder 101 has a forward end wall formed with an opening 101a and a base end fully opened. A first packing means 104 with an opening formed in conformity with said opening 101a of the air cylinder 101 is fixed to the tip end of said cylinder 101. A piston 102 is connected to a piston rod 103 having a cushioning member 107a and an engaging member 107 at its rear end portion. The piston rod 103 is guided through the opening 112a of the bent portion 112a of the means 112 at its rear portion. A spring holder 108 is held by a support member of the housing b between the bent portion 112a and the piston 102 and loosely fitted around the piston rod 103 Between said spring holder 105 and the piston 102 there is provided a compression spring 109.

A trigger l 14 is pivotally connected to the housing 19 by a pin 116. Numeral 118 designates a leaf spring for restoring said trigger into its original position. Means for locking the engaging member 107 of the piston rod 103 is pivotally connected to the housing b by a pin ll5b and provided with a hook portion 115( at its one end and an elongated slot 115a at its other end portion. Through said slot 1150 is projected a pin 114a formed on the trigger 114.

A second packing means 111 is fixed to the housing b ahead of the first packing means 104. Said second packing means 111 is formed with an opening 11a and an annular protuberance 111b on the side facing said first packing means 104. A packing ring may be attached to said annular protuberance 11b to increase a sealing effect.

A large gear 122a and a small gear 122b are mounted in a gear casing 122 in a state meshing with each other. Said large gear 122a has projections radially formed to be engaged with the bent projection l12b. Said gear casing 122 is fixed to the gun body a in a position forward of the second packing means 111. In said gear casing there is further provided a pawl member 136 for allowing the large gear 122a to rotate in one direction and preventing the same from rotating in the opposite direction.

Character cdesignates a cassette for loading a tape used in the toy gun of the present invention for a cap or cracker. A friction roller 127 such as a rubber roller connected with a gear 127a is mounted in the tape loading cassette 0 at its upper forward position. A closure member 137 comprises an upper -wall portion 137:: and a rear wall portion 13717 and swingeably fixed at said rear wall portion to said cassette c by a pin 138. The cassette c is further provided with a groove 139 for receiving a claw member 141a as mentioned below.

Numeral 140 designates'a cassette rriounting portion formed on the housing b and provided with a locking means 141 having saidclaw member 141a. This claw member 141a is urged to project into the groove 139 by a spring 142. The locking me means 141 is provided with a push button portion which is adapted'to release said claw member 141a upon the depressing operation thereof.

The leaf spring 118 is adapted to press at its forward end 118a the upper wall portion 137a of the closure member 137 in the state where the cassette 0 is mounted properly. Said "upper wall portion 137a is urged towards the rubber roller 127 to press the same at its forward end.

Numeral 143 indicates a lock pin for locking the lever 103a which is urged to project by a spring 144 and formed to engage with a groove l03b of said lever 103a when it is projected.

In this structure, a tape made of a material as specitied in the foregoing embodiment and having a width of the rubber roller 127 is rolled and loaded in said cassette c, letting its tip end project from between the forward end of the upper wall portion 137a and the rubber roller 127. The cassette c is then put in the cassette mounting portion 140 with its upper portion snugly inserted and fitted therein. In the course of the engagement of the cassette c with the mounting portion 140, the claw member 141a of the locking means 141 is once depressed against the action of the spring 142 and returned to its original position, projecting into the groove 139 to lock said cassette c after completion of said engagement. In a position where the cassette 6 is properly and fully locked, the gear 127a connected to the roller 127 is in mesh with the gear 122!) and the forward end of the upper wall portion 137a which is urged downwardly by the end 118a of the spring 118 lightly presses the tape against the rubber roller 127.

The cassette 0 can be easily removed from the cassette mounting portion 140 by depressing the push button portion of the locking means 141 against the action of the spring 142 to release the claw member 1410 from the groove 139. The cassette 0 is pressed downwardb by the action of the leaf spring 118 and readily slipped out from the cassette mounting portion 140.

In a position where the cassette c is properly installed in the mounting portion 140, the lever 103a is pulled up into a horizontal position and them pulled backwardly. It will then be seen that the setting member 1 12 is retired according to the lever 103a and the air cylinder 101 is drawn back to the support member 105 of the housing I), where it retains the spring holder 108, due to friction between said setting member 112 and said air cylinder 101. According to the retreat of said setting member 112, the engaging member 107 connected to the piston rod 103 is pushed by the bent portion 1 12a of the setting member 112 through the cushioning member 107a and the piston 102 is drawn back against the action of the spring 109. Said engaging member 107 is locked by the locking member after it gets over the hooked portion thereof.

On the other hand, in the course of the retreat of said setting member 112, the bent projection 112b engages with the projection of the large gear 122a to rotate it by a given angle. Upon the rotation of said large gear 122a, the small gear 122b meshed therewith is rotated and then the rubber roller 127 is rotated through the gear 127a to automatically feed the tape by a required length.

Subsequently, the lever 103a is moved forwardly to return'the air cylinder 101 to its utmost forward position where the first packing means 104 attached to the tip end of said air cylinder 101 is pressed against the annular protuberance 111b of the second packing'means 1 1 1 through the tape fed therebetween. The lever 103a is folded down in this position to be locked by means of the claw 143 and the groove 103b, thus completing the setting operation.

In the thus set position, the trigger 114 is pulled against the action of the leaf spring 118. The piston rod 103 is then released from the engagement with the locking member 115 through the engaging member 107 and the piston 102 is sprung forwardly. The air in the air cylinder 101 is quickly compressed, forcing the tape through the openings 101a and 104. The tape is broken making a big sound when it becomes unable to stand the pressure of the compressed air.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show some modification in the tape feeding means of the second embodiment. In FIG. 6, a closure member 237 of a cassette, an upper wall portion thereof, a rubber roller 227 and a gear 227a are formed identically with those of FIG. 3 and a cover member 22712 is additionally provided. Said cover member 22712 is formed along the upper curvature of the gear, covering the upper portion thereof, thereby to prevent the tape from possibly getting entangled between gear 22711 and another gear in mesh therewith and to smoothly feed the tape.

FIG. 7 shows a second packing means 211 similar to the second packing member 111 of FIG. 3. Said second packing means 211 is formed with an opening 211a, an annular protuberance 21 lb therearound, a tape guide portion 2110, a wall portion 211d and a tape cutter 211e. The tape guide portion 211C is formed in a curvature appropriate for smoothly feeding or discharging the tape smoothly. Said tape guide portion 211( cooperates with the wall portions 211d to feed the tape easily and fluently.

What is claimed is:

1. Toy gun consisting essentially of an air cylinder having an opening at its forward end wall; a first packing means having an opening formed in conformity to said opening of said air cylinder and fixed to said air cylinder at its tip end; a piston fitted in said air cylinder and provided with a piston rod connected thereto which is associated with a trigger and adapted to be locked in a retired position against the action of spring means for urging said piston forward and released from the locked position; a second packing means with an opening which is positioned ahead of said first packing means to pass therebetween a tape of thin film made of a material having an air transmission resistance of a degree sufficient for producing a compressed air of a pressure under which the thin film is broken; means for relatively bringing the first and the second packing means into a position to press against each other, rendering said air cylinder sealed in cooperation with the tape held therebetween before the release of the piston rod; and a tape feeding means disposed in the course of the tape before a position where the snap break is effected and formed of a friction roller, gear transmission means and means associated with the piston rod and adapted to operate said gear transmission means in the course of retreat of the piston rod thereby to push the tape to feed it to said position through friction between the friction roller and the tape pressed against it.

2. Toy gun as claimed in claim 1, which further comprises means for smoothly discharging the tape fed from between said first packing means and said second packing means, which is formed of a wall portion and a tape guide portion having a curvature for guiding the tape to feed the tape smoothly.

3. Toy gun consisting essentially of an air cylinder having an opening at its forward end wall; a first packing means having an opening formed in conformity to said opening of said cylinder and fixed to said air cylinder at its tip end; a piston fitted in said air cylinder and provided with a piston rod connected thereto which is associated with a trigger and adapted to the locked in a retired position against the action of a spring means for urging said piston forward and released from the locked position; a second packing means with an opening which is positioned ahead of said first packing means to pass therebetween a tape of thin film made of a material having an air transmission resistance of a degree sufficient for producing a compressed air of a pressure under which the thin film is broken; and means for relatively bringing the first and the second packing means into a position to press against each other rendering said air cylinder sealed in cooperation with the tape held therebetween before the release of the piston rod, said means comprising a rod associated with the trigger of the gun and urged normally in the direction opposite to pulling direction of the trigger, and pressing means connected to the second packing means and the said rod and adapted to be moved backward by pulling the trigger to push the second packing means against the first packing means.

4. Toy gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means for relatively bringing the first and the second packing means into a position to press against each other, comprises a lever member connected to said air cylinder and adapted to move the same forward and backward and a locking means for locking said lever member in its utmost forward position where the tip end of the first packing means presses against the second packing 

1. Toy gun consisting essentially of an air cylinder having an opening at its forward end wall; a first packing means having an opening formed in conformity to said opening of said air cylinder and fixed to said air cylinder at its tip end; a piston fitted in said air cylinder and provided with a piston rod connected thereto which is associated with a trigger and adapted to be locked in a retired position against the action of spring means for urging said piston forward and released from the locked position; a second packing means with an opening which is positioned ahead of said first packing means to pass therebetween a tape of thin film made of a material having an air transmission resistance of a degree sufficient for producing a compressed air of a pressure under which the thin film is broken; means for relatively bringing the first and the second packing means into a position to press against each other, rendering said air cylinder sealed in cooperation with the tape held therebetween before the release of the piston rod; and a tape feeding means disposed in the course of the tape before a position where the snap break is effected and formed of a friction roller, gear transmission means and means associated with the piston rod and adapted to operate said gear transmission means in the course of retreat of the piston rod thereby to push the tape to feed it to said position through friction between the friction roller and the tape pressed against it.
 2. Toy gun as claimed in claim 1, which further comprises means for smoothly discharging the tape fed from between said first packing means and said second packing means, which is formed of a wall portion and a tape guide portion having a curvature for guiding the tape to feed the tape smoothly.
 3. Toy gun consisting essentially of an air cylinder having an opening at its forward end wall; a first packing means having an opening formed in conformity to said opening of said cylinder and fixed to said air cylinder at its tip end; a piston fitted in said air cylinder and provided with a piston rod connected thereto which is associated with a trigger and adapted to the locked in a retired position against the action of a spring means for urging said piston forward and released from the locked position; a second packing means with an openIng which is positioned ahead of said first packing means to pass therebetween a tape of thin film made of a material having an air transmission resistance of a degree sufficient for producing a compressed air of a pressure under which the thin film is broken; and means for relatively bringing the first and the second packing means into a position to press against each other rendering said air cylinder sealed in cooperation with the tape held therebetween before the release of the piston rod, said means comprising a rod associated with the trigger of the gun and urged normally in the direction opposite to pulling direction of the trigger, and pressing means connected to the second packing means and the said rod and adapted to be moved backward by pulling the trigger to push the second packing means against the first packing means.
 4. Toy gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means for relatively bringing the first and the second packing means into a position to press against each other, comprises a lever member connected to said air cylinder and adapted to move the same forward and backward and a locking means for locking said lever member in its utmost forward position where the tip end of the first packing means presses against the second packing means. 